by Murray Link
The North Dundas Senior Rockets Hockey Club played their first game of 2024 on Saturday, January 6 at home in Chesterville and put another W in the win column as they beat the Arnprior Rivermen 13-4. The significant win kept the Rockets’ perfect season alive as they have won all 15 games that they have played this season. The Eastern Ontario Super Hockey League is comprised of a 20-game season with 15 teams in Eastern Ontario and the Rockets are 3/4 away from possibly being the first team in EOSHL history to not lose a single game. Not all of the Rockets’ wins have been as lopsided as this past weekend as 4 of their wins were decided by only one goal, including the December 16th 5-4 victory over Alexandra, which needed overtime to solidify the win.
In Saturday’s game, the Rockets came out firing right from the get go. After one period of play, the home team had a 5-2 lead and never looked back. With 68 shots recorded, the Rockets had 14 different players make the score sheet with either a goal or an assist. “We had a full line up” mentioned Rob Sadler, the Rockets’ head coach “We had scoring from all four lines, it is easy to see how deep we are both offensively and on the blue line”.
Local standout #90 Tanner Williams took home first star of the game with 4 points (2G, 2A). In his second game as a Rocket and first game in Chesterville, #12 Chris Kushneriuk made a splash for his debut, taking the second star of the game with 4 points (1G, 3A). Kushneriuk, who was the captain at Robert Morris University in the NCAA system and played in the ECHL for several years, is a great addition to the blue line as the Rockets push to repeat as League champs again this year.
Offence was not the only big story of the day as goaltender #25 Matt Jenkins recorded his 50th career win with the Rockets organization. Jenkins currently leads the EOSHL with 13 wins and is also leading all goaltenders with a 3.00 GAA.
The Rockets are on the road this weekend taking on their division rivals, the South Stormont Mustangs, in Long Sault on Saturday, January 13 at 6:30. The next home game is scheduled for January 27 at 2:15 versus the Paugan Falls Rapids. Don’t forget to visit and follow the Rockets on their Facebook page to keep up to date on the schedule, scores and player bios.
